A necessary transition of outside fiber optic cable to inside plant communication equipment occurs at central data communication facilities. These outside fiber optic cables contain a moisture blocking gel that protects the optical fiber from moisture that will advance out of a terminated end of the outside fiber optic cable if the moisture blocking gel is not blocked.
For data communication manufacturers, making the transition from the outside fiber optic cable to the inside plant communication equipment can be a challenging process in which engineers develop transitioning apparatus to meet the high density needs of the central data communication locations while protecting the optical fibers, maintaining bend radii of the optical fibers, and managing massive amounts of the optical fibers. This is particularly true for optical fiber communication lines, where the engineers create fiber blocking kits that prevent the moisture blocking gel contained in outside plant cables from advancing out of a terminated end of the outside plant cable, and provide for splitting the optical fibers contained in the outside plant cables down to manageable sub-units based on communication equipment arranged in a central data communication facility.
Fiber blocking kits exist that are arranged to be filled with a sealant (e.g., Room Temperature Vulcanization (RTV) silicone) to prevent the moisture blocking gel contained in the outside plant cables from advancing out of the terminated end of the outside plant cable, but the fiber blocking kits are difficult to install, and often produce damaged fibers (e.g., micro-fractured fibers). For example, in the case where RTV silicone is used to prevent the moisture blocking gel from advancing out of the terminated end of the outside plant cable, micro-fractures may be produced in the fibers at an interface between the cured RTV silicone and a retainer plate due to a displacement of the outside plant cable and/or the fiber blocking kit. Thus, a user must take great care to ensure little or no displacement of the outside plant cable and/or the fiber blocking kit occurs in order to prevent micro-fracturing fibers at the interface of the cured RTV silicone and the retainer plate.
Moreover, because the fiber blocking kits are filled with RTV silicone to prevent the moisture blocking gel from advancing out of the outside plant cable, visually inspecting for proper installation of the fiber blocking kits is not possible. For example, because the the RTV silicone surrounds the fibers routed in the fiber blocking kit, visually inspecting for proper routing and bend radii of the fibers cannot be accomplished. Thus, potentially resulting in a fiber blocking kit installed with damaged fibers, which requires reinstallation of the fiber blocking kit.